Yesterday evening, the Senate passed a Paycheck Protection Program reform bill (PPP Flexibility Act) that previously cleared the House of Representatives. The bill will quickly be sent to the President for signature. The reforms included in this bill have provisions that are supported by the Premium Cigar Association (PCA), are in the association’s Economic Blueprint for Recovery, and have been lobbied on for several weeks. The provisions include: 

  • Borrowers have 24 weeks (instead of 8 weeks) to utilize loan funds
  • 40% can be used for non-payroll expenses (versus 25%)
  • Borrowers have the ability to negotiate or extend the terms of the loan to a minimum 5 years (versus 2 years)
  • Borrowers have until December 31, 2020 to “fix” any reduced number of employees or salary reductions that may impact forgiveness of PPP loans (versus the previous deadline of June 30, 2020).
  • Payments of the loan are now deferred until the amount of loan forgiveness is determined. Previously payments were due 6 months from the receipt of the loan.

PCA commends the work of both the House and Senate on passing these much-needed fixes that will surely benefit PCA members across the country.